Jno. 15:2 ... "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit."
In the first part of this chapter Jesus is painting a verbal picture of a vine, probably a grapevine, growing in someone's vineyard. From the trunk of the vine radiate out many branches, some full of life and bearing fruit, while others are stunted or dead and void of fruit. The husbandman regularly comes to each plant and cuts off the stunted and dead branches, which he gathers into a pile outside the vineyard and burns them. He also prunes the luxuriant branches to enhance their ability to grow better and produce more. Those who heard Jesus paint this verbal picture could easily comprehend it, since vineyards were common in Palestine. Many of His disciples at some time in the past had likely worked in vineyards doing just what Jesus portrayed the husbandman doing. The picture is thus quite plain; but, since it is obvious Jesus is teaching a spiritual lesson with this physical model, what is His message?
First, the vine is a figure for Christ, and the branches are people who are His disciples. This identification is made clear in v.5 where Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches." The idea that the branches represent divisions of the Christian church is a fallacy. Jesus had individual people in mind rather than human organizations when He spoke of branches, because in v.6 He said that "if ANYONE (a person) does not abide in Me, HE is thrown away as a branch." Since Jesus is the vine, and Christians are the branches, the vineyard is the Lord's church, since that is the body in which Christ is united with His disciples. We are told in Eph. 1:22-23 that the Father gave Christ "to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body." The husbandman, who cuts off the barren branches and burns them, and who prunes the productive branches to enable them to bear even more fruit, is God the Father, (see v.1). This, then, is the spiritual reality modeled in the physical image. But what is the practical application in human experience? It is apparent that Jesus had two such applications in mind.
The first is that spiritual life and productivity come only through fellowship with Christ. Jesus declared in v.4 that "as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me." Lest anyone not understand what it means to "abide in Me," Jesus expands on the concept in v.10, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." To abide in Christ therefore means to keep the commandments He has given us. Also, as a person stores up in his mind the knowledge of Jesus' commandments by diligently studying the New Testament, and then faithfully conducts his life by the guidelines set by these commandments, he is bringing forth the fruit the Lord expects. One's obedience to the teachings of Christ is the fruit that He intends every branch to produce.
The second application Jesus makes is that failure to bear fruit for Him will lead to rejection and destruction. In v.6 He declared, "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." When a person becomes a disciple of Christ by being "baptized into Christ," (Gal. 3:27), he becomes a new, tender shoot out of that Holy Vine. That person must then begin to bear fruit as he becomes involved in the activities of spiritual service commanded by Jesus. If this does not happen, or if a Christian stops doing them, the Lord will eventually cut that person off from Him and have no further fellowship with Him. Finally, He will sorrowfully (I Pet. 3:9) destroy that soul in "fire," meaning the eternal fire of hell (Gehenna). And that is the ultimate human tragedy!
